The present invention relates to a table including a rotatable top panel.
Conventionally, a table having a rotatable top panel is used in an office or at school. Such a table is put into an in-use state when the top panel is set substantially horizontally. In contrast, when the top panel is set up substantially vertically, the table is put into a storable state where a plurality of the tables can be stacked in a front-back direction for storage purposes. Some of such tables have casters arranged at the lower end thereof, and are configured to be switchable between a movable state by means of the casters and an immovable state in an interlocking manner with the rotation of the top panel.
In the above-described table, the top panel is supported by a pair of leg portions arranged spaced apart from each other. Therefore, in order to increase strength of the table and allow the same to be used in a stable condition, a frame member that couples the leg portions to each other is provided.
Since the frame member is arranged between the leg portions, the space for accommodating the user's legs is narrowed by the frame member. To cope with this, a table is proposed in which the frame member is arranged between the upper parts of the leg portions and used also as a rotation axis of the top panel. Such a configuration secures the space for accommodating the user's legs and increases strength of the table. As an example of such tables, proposed is a table in which, for example, the frame member (rotational support shaft) is bridged laterally between the top edges of the leg portions (leg supports), and the side edges of the rotational support shaft are positioned outside of the inside edges of the leg supports (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-357979).
Conventionally, a movable state by means of the casters and an immovable state are switched in an interlocking manner with the rotation of the top panel due to a configuration, for example, in which a rod arranged inside the leg portion is moved up and down in accordance with the rotation of the top panel, and the movement of the rod switches between an abutting state and a non-abutting state of the casters against a floor surface.
In such a configuration, if the rotation axis of the top panel is not the frame member as stated above, the up-and-down movement of the rod can be achieved by coupling the rotation axis of the top panel and the rod via a small number of components. Thus, this mechanism can be simplified and downsized.
In the case of a table in which a frame member functions as a rotation axis, however, it is preferable that the frame member is non-rotatably fixed to the leg portions to retain strength because the frame member is provided in order to reinforce the table. Consequently, in order to allow the rod to be moved up and down, it becomes necessary to connect the top panel and the rod, and to additionally attach members for converting the rotation of the top panel to the up-and-down movement of the rod.
In the table in the above Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-357979, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 6 thereof, a rod-like member is arranged on a side surface of a top-panel-receiver 32 and coupled to a rod inside a leg support 21 via a shaft-like member arranged in such a manner as to penetrate an inner surface of the leg support 21. Further, as can be seen from FIG. 4 of the above publication, the shaft-like member is moved up and down in accordance with a rotational position of a top panel 1.